Sky-Filling Light Rain

Ling Yun sat down on the ground, his Martial Soul, the Yin-Yang Mirror, floating above his head. Red and white light enveloped him.

"Come on! My First Soul Ring."

"The key to breaking the rules of heaven and earth."

Guided by a strand of Soul Power, the Iron-Armored Ox's Soul Ring appeared above Ling Yun's head in an instant. The ring then shrank and clamped around the Yin-Yang Mirror like a tightening curse, releasing all its Soul Power at once.

The Soul Power within the ring was still carrying out its master's will. With the resolve to perish together, it surged like a flood bursting through the earth, trying to overwhelm Ling Yun's body, destroy his meridians, and gravely wound his mind.

"You weren't a match for me alive, and you still want to fight back dead? I'll suppress you!"

The Soul Power in the ring was like boiling lava, pouring from his Martial Soul into Ling Yun's arm and coursing through his entire body.

Ling Yun's whole body turned red, steam rising from his head as the temperature around him climbed considerably.

This was a different kind of bomb.

Seeing this, Su Yuntao and Sisi furrowed their brows, unable to keep their worry from showing.

This didn't look normal at all. Back when they'd absorbed their first Soul Rings, no one had helped them, and they hadn't been especially talented. Their First Soul Rings had both been Ten-Year Soul Rings, and the entire process had been relatively uneventful.

Ling Yun's situation was nothing like theirs. There was far too much commotion!

"Focus your mind on your Martial Soul and stay alert!"

"No matter how painful it gets, you have to hold on. The longer you endure it, the more completely you'll control the Soul Ring once you've finished absorbing it."

Ling Yun didn't need their reminder; he was already doing exactly that. The sudden release of all that Soul Power had indeed caused him trouble, but it was still within what he could bear.

Ling Yun used his will to control his original tenth-level Soul Power and launch an assault against the foreign force, crushing it again and again across the battlefield of his meridians.

With every collision, some of the Soul Power became entangled, then was assimilated by his original tenth-level Soul Power.

This process inevitably damaged his meridians, especially the smaller ones. Such damage was happening constantly.

Fortunately, the Yin-Yang Mirror's yang energy was powerful enough that as soon as his meridians were damaged, that energy restored them.

As they broke and healed, his meridians grew stronger. The battle within him continued, and Ling Yun guided his own Soul Power into another fierce collision.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

After fifteen collisions, the Soul Ring's Soul Power had been beaten into submission and obediently merged with his original Soul Power.

Ling Yun felt refreshed from head to toe. "A mere Soul Ring thinks it can run wild? That's what happens when you don't behave."

All that remained was to refine it, thoroughly make the Soul Ring's power his own, and use it to break through his bottleneck.

Outside.

Seeing Ling Yun's aura settle, Su Yuntao and Sisi finally felt the weight lift from their hearts.

The most dangerous part was over. All they had to do now was wait for Ling Yun to refine the Soul Power.

The two exchanged a glance and smiled.

Su Yuntao began, "What do you think we should report?"

"Just report the truth. What else would you suggest?"

"Not me. Ling Yun. I invited him to join Spirit Hall twice, and he turned me down both times."

"If we report the truth, the higher-ups will definitely send someone. There's a good chance it'll be a Titled Douluo. When that happens, he'll have no choice but to join."

"You know no one dares refuse a Titled Douluo!"

"If we report the truth, we'll be rewarded by the Hall, but Ling Yun will hold it against us. He'll join Spirit Hall under pressure, and when he grows strong later, what do you think will happen to us?"

Su Yuntao was very clever. If Sisi weren't the woman he loved, he wouldn't have told her any of this!

If he didn't make his point clear, he knew Sisi well enough to know she'd tell them everything about Ling Yun for the sake of a reward she could see and touch.

By now, Ling Yun could spare some of his attention to sense what was happening outside, so he naturally heard their conversation.

He couldn't help admiring him. Brother Tao really understood how things worked.

Sisi also realized how serious the situation was and gave Su Yuntao a grateful look. She suddenly realized she didn't know him at all. How had she never noticed that this man, who spent every day hovering around her, had such a clear head?

"I understand. So how should we report it?"

"We'll say we ran into a herd of Iron-Armored Oxen, wounded our target, then escaped their attack. Once the herd dispersed, we went back to finish it off."

"Report the Soul Ring as four hundred years old!"

"That way, we both come out ahead!"

Sisi nodded. "I never knew you had this side to you. You're especially handsome right now!"

Praised by the woman he loved, Su Yuntao suddenly grew bashful. His cheeks reddened, and the blood rushed to his face. Fortunately, it was night, so she couldn't see clearly. Otherwise, he would have been even more embarrassed!

The moonlight grew fainter and fainter, and dawn gradually broke!

Something new was happening with Ling Yun. The invisible shackles formed by the rules of heaven and earth were pried open by the Soul Ring's power, then snapped apart.

The Soul Power fluctuations unique to breaking through a major bottleneck spread in all directions. Level eleven, level twelve... They continued until they slowly stopped at level fifteen.

This 596-year Soul Ring had been well worth absorbing. Its effect was astonishingly good.

Su Yuntao and Sisi felt the Soul Power fluctuations and turned to look toward Ling Yun.

"He did it!" Su Yuntao cried excitedly.

Ling Yun stretched his arms and legs, and his body crackled all over. He'd grown a little taller, and his skin was more elastic.

At that moment, he felt that Soul Power all around him was easier to absorb. Before absorbing a Soul Ring, his absorption efficiency had been 1; now it was 1.5. In a word, exhilarating!

His senses had also become much sharper, and his eyesight had improved considerably. He could see farther and make out finer details.

"Congratulations! You've made history!"

"Thank you, Sister Sisi and Brother Tao, for standing guard and letting me absorb the Soul Ring in peace. You both helped make this Soul Ring a success."

"So, are you satisfied with your Soul Skill?" Su Yuntao asked.

On the Douluo Continent, asking about someone else's Soul Skill was considered impolite. By asking this way, Su Yuntao was letting Ling Yun share it if he wanted to.

If he didn't, he could simply say whether he was satisfied or not.

Ling Yun didn't keep it to himself. He'd have to use the Soul Skill sooner or later, and since the two had earned his trust, showing it to them was no big deal.

"I'll show you directly. Then you'll understand!"

A Soul Ring rose beneath Ling Yun's feet. At a thought, countless light needles appeared in the sky and shot out with peerless penetrating power.

The rock ten meters away was pierced through, riddled with countless holes.

At Ling Yun's command, the red and white light needles dwindled in number. Wherever his thoughts led, the needles shot toward the target in perfect unison.

He could control the number of light needles at will.

Even before he had a Soul Ring, he could compress light and condense it into beams to increase its attack power. But he couldn't form light needles that didn't interfere with one another; that level of control was far beyond his current abilities.

That was a Soul Skill: flexible, convenient, and powerful.

Only after obtaining a Soul Skill of his own did he understand why so few people on the Douluo Continent studied Self-Created Soul Skills.

Soul Rings were just too convenient!

Martial arts techniques could be considered Self-Created Soul Skills. They were the same in essence: both were ways of using Soul Power.

The difference was that Self-Created Soul Skills required years of practice to improve proficiency and increase their power.

Soul Skills granted by Soul Rings skipped the training process entirely. You mastered them outright and only had to activate them.

Soul Skills were also smoother to use. Their advantages were obvious.

"I've named my First Soul Skill Sky-Filling Light Rain!"

"That's a very fitting name. Its penetrating power is terrifying. I couldn't block it. Maybe a defense-type Soul Elder could withstand it."

Using himself as a point of reference, Su Yuntao described how it felt to him.

Sisi was awash with mixed feelings. So this is what a genius is like? I'm so jealous!